Helidon Gjergji. Waves

A native of Albania, Helidon Gjergji had been studying art in Italy before he came to the United States for the first time to get his master’s degree. He considered himself a painter, but he was so struck by America’s throwaway mentality that he started assembling discarded TV sets and plastic bags to express his concerns about the abuse of political, religious, and economic power. Waves explores this theme by tracing the history of television.

At the dawn of the mass television era, a handful of television stations broadcasted a few programs for only several hours per day. The absence of choice meant that television was autocratic, dictating what viewers would watch and when. As television rose to become the new center of gravity for the private social sphere, it often produced unintended consequences. While channel surfing for the football game, for example, a sports fan might inadvertently watch the recent developments of a coup d’etat in the Ivory Cost, which he didn’t even know existed.

Helidon Gjergji
Waves
Kuratorin: Nina Colosi